First things first, the game is good and deserves some attention...however it's got a lot of flaws that ruins the game for me.

The good thing probably is the story, which is very very good and interesting because it could lead anywhere and has no real specific goal (except looking for you father...I'll talk about him later): that's really enjoyable and I like a good "travel story" game:First things first, the game is good and deserves some attention...however it's got a lot of flaws that ruins the game for me.

The good thing probably is the story, which is very very good and interesting because it could lead anywhere and has no real specific goal (except looking for you father...I'll talk about him later): that's really enjoyable and I like a good "travel story" game: anything can come and it can be done good easily.
Oh and the music is not bad either.

That's it really, because I haven't found anything else being remarkably good and I'll explain why.

For starters, the combat is not bad and it's basically a tactical combat system (basically turn based while moving on a battlefield each turn) however for one it's extremely slow because you cannot do autobattles, resulting in pressing the first command and wait until the enemies are dead and, with the exception of bosses and some hard battles, you really can just press one button and shrug it off. Second, the battles themselves are almost useless because levelling is nearly impossible due to a sort of "programmed" levelling in which the higher the level, the less exp you'll get, making combat completely useless, unless you have to grind money and sepith (basically the only way to upgrade your magic power and obtain magic spells, using a system similar to FF7 "materias"); luckily enough you can do quest in order to get money and everything you need (especially considering the items are WAY overpriced that even farming monster would be extremely long), and quests are also another good thing of the game and with exception of some quests being very obscure and telling you nowhere to go, it's still good of a feature. And third, the graphics are great...but the characters look terrible considering the enviroment it's VERY detailed and also huge.

However these issues aren't what made me give this score because they're not game breaking. The real issue was the "main protagonist": Estelle. The story is revolved for a huge part on looking for his father but you'll go around the world doing other things for your training, which is fine, however she's basically the worst kind of character you could ever get: a Mary Sue, but in this case she's a character that will constantly get the attention on every scene possible. Why? Lots of reasons and one of those is literally shadowing other characters, including the second main protagonist Joshua, which until now (I'm 40 hours in and soon to the last chapter) we know NOTHING about, as well as the other characters that will join because they barely had any screen time or important backstory to tell. Or the game was focusing on Estelle complaining. Seriously, I literally don't know the characters that came and went, because the game would constantly focus the story on this whiny and annoying girl that has nothing interesting at all, leaving the potentially good characters hid in the dark until the game starts calling them out (Joshua is one example, since he's extremely skilled, smart, very calm and mysterious). Not only that she's always in the attention of the game the plot will constantly remind us that her father is like the best of the best, every-single-time, and that because of him they expect her to be as good so she gets help, even though most of the times she knows nothing (It's almost like Harry Potter, except he wasn't "that" annoying). I'm truely sorry if I'm being this harsh on one character but I really could not stand how the game just favours her in every scene but completely forgets characters around her, killing potential good characters and actual character development; in addition she's also pretty weak in battle (her stats are decent but she's best used as a support character/healer than damage dealer, while Joshua is a damage beast despite the low defense) and the game will constantly remind us she's the main character in almost every scene possible available: the gender-swapped theatrical play for no reason, the "obviously-useless" fishing scene in the hotel, the constant immature acting but excused because she's the daughter of "that guy", the obvious fanservice scene in the SPA, the nonsensical scene where she's considered more like a boy than a girl (seriously, with her ginarmous pigtails, which are also not very practical for fighting, even a boy could look girly enough). The scenes are so many that it's pointless to track down, but yes she literally destroys the plot. For me.

Infact the game is still pretty solid and I'd warmly suggest to give this game a try, especially since good RPGs on PSP are rare and the game is still pretty fluid and interesting: in addition Estelle might be likeable for others, so all of this could be pointless for you, but since she can be a distraction I thought to mention"how" she can be annoying, plus I'm sure she'll be better later in the trilogy.